The Chariots of Destiny Organization and Pamoja Road safety initiative are NGOs in Kenya advocating for road safety. The two organizations have come together to implement different projects and programs in line with marking the UN Decade of Action for road safety 2011-2020 which was launched on the 11th of May 2011. Over 3500 people are killed every year in Kenya as a result of road crashes and thousands others injured or disabled. Please join us to support the decade of action and save lives!
What is the Tag?
There are some symbols that unite the world: the red ribbon which brought such momentum to awareness of HIV/AIDS and the white band against global poverty. Now these are joined by a new symbol.
The road safety tag is the global symbol of the movement to improve safety on the roads. It has been adopted as the official symbol for the United Nations’ Decade of action for road safety 2011-2020, which aims to reduce road deaths and injuries across the world. More than 1.3 million people die every year on the worlds roads, up to 50 million are injured.
By wearing the tag you are demonstrating your support for the decade of action, and your personal commitment to be safe on the road.
Why we must act
Most of us know someone who has been affected by a road crash, either by being injured themselves or through suffering a bereavement or injury to a family member or friend.
Every day, around the world, 3500 people leave home and never return because they have been suddenly violently killed in a road crash.
These tragic deaths and the misery and grief they cause are not inevitable. They can be prevented, if measures are taken by governments, police, health practitioners and all road users to improve safety.
The Unite Nations General Assembly has set the goal for the decade: “to stabilize and then reduce the forecast level of road traffic fatalities around the world by 2020. Millions of deaths could potentially be prevented as a result.”
The decade of action is our opportunity to make our communities and streets safer wherever we live.
“Something can be done. So many people can be saved; so many millions can be saved.”
Violet Olang, June 2010
Violet Olang, a Kenyan student, suffered spinal injuries in March 2009 when the taxi she was travelling in was involved in a road crash. The taxi driver had been talking on a mobile phone and driving too fast. Violet was partially paralyzed and confined to a wheelchair.
Violet believed that the decade of action has the potential to prevent her story being repeated of millions of others. Sadly Violet died in October 2010.
Ten reasons to act on road deaths
• 1.3 million people are killed on the worlds roads each year
• Road crashes kill more people than malaria
• 50 million people are injured, many disabled as a result
• 90% of these casualties occur in developing countries
• Annual deaths are forecast to rise to 1.9 million by 2020
• It is the No. 1 cause of death for young people worldwide
• By 2015 it will be the leading health burden for children over the age of five in developing countries
• The economic cost to developing countries is at least $100 billion a year
• Injuries place immense burdens on hospitals and health systems
• Road crashes are preventable
What can I do?
The first thing you can do is get a Tag. Wear it, somehow, anyhow. Then tell your friends, family and colleagues to get their Tags too.
A red ribbon is just a ribbon, until it is imbued with the hope and energies of millions of people working against HIV/AIDS. The white plastic wrist band is just a piece of plastic, until hundreds of thousands of people proudly display it as they march against poverty. Now it is up to all of us to unite and make this small piece of metal – the road safety Tag – a powerful symbol of our fight against suffering, grief and injustice caused by road deaths and injuries.
